Evaluation of PPAF Program.

Review of the PPAF study over the period 2007 to 2010 implemented a Social Safety Net – Targeting Ultra Poor (SSN-TUP) Program. Under the program, five partner organizations were requested to identify ultra-poor households in selected communities. Out of the total number of households identified as ultra-poor in these selected Sindh Coastal Areas, half were targeted under the program. This allowed the other half to serve as a ready control group. Targeted households were provided productive assets, the skills to utilize these, a subsistence allowance, access to health services, and opportunities to save. The program operated under the BRAC “Graduation” Model that hypothesized that these interventions would enable ultra-poor households to “graduate” out of poverty. The assessment of the SSN-TUP program, that is the subject of this report, was initiated in January of 2012, i.e. 1.5 to 2 years after the close of the program. The methodology involves comparing a data from sample of beneficiaries to a sample of non-beneficiaries collected through a specially designed survey.

• Overall Momentum assessed the effectiveness of PPAF’s poverty reduction interventions, using a mixed-methods approach of primary and secondary data collection and analysis. A comprehensive evaluation framework for gauging the project and its progress was prepared. Experts identified and documented key learnings from the poverty reduction evaluation.